


Phantoms of Another Time

by deej_nicolson



Series: Cat's Cradle || A P5 Arcanaswap NG+ AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arcana Swap (Persona Series), Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Human Morgana, New Game Plus, Roleswap, Someone stop me, basically an arcanaswap ng+ au wherein morgana is the lead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28977888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deej_nicolson/pseuds/deej_nicolson
Summary: Maybe he expected something more? A fanfare or something? No, he didn’t deserve it. Akira was the Trickster, the savior of the world. Of course he deserved it, much more than him - nothing but Akira’s mentor, teacher and friend.xxxAfter the battle with Yaldaboth, Morgana wakes up on a train in a human body... In April. This just isn't his day.NG+ Arcanaswap AU!
Relationships: Morgana & Persona 5 Protagonist, Morgana & The Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Series: Cat's Cradle || A P5 Arcanaswap NG+ AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125509
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Phantoms of Another Time

**Author's Note:**

> inspired (and by that i mean SHAMELESSLY ripped off from) [glowingGalaxies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowingGalaxies/pseuds/glowingGalaxies) & [Pixxyofice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice)'s [Regrow Series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935223), as well as several other NG+ works that use this as a concept!

December 25th 2016 

The wind was cold on Morgana’s face as he stared into the dissipating Tokyo. 

He felt the Phantom Thieves hands reach out towards him, as he vanished into light. 

He can see Akira crying, losing his friend, his confidant, his  _ mentor _ , someone who was with him through thick and thin - aside from that time he ran off but even then - and he tried to reach out to Akira, but before he can, the world appears to crack under him. Cognition failed him for a second, before he breathed inward. 

They defeated Yaldaboth, the false God, the representative of humanities desires. They saved Tokyo, the world, from falling into its own distortions. They climbed the Prison of Regression, ended this bizarre and stupid game that Akira was trapped in, that the now long dead  _ Akechi  _ was trapped in… Maybe he expected something more? 

A fanfare or something? No, he didn’t deserve it. Akira was the Trickster, the savior of the world. Of course he deserved it, much more than him - nothing but Akira’s mentor, teacher and friend. But as the light began to consume him, Morgana could swear he saw a familiar butterfly flying into his vision, crossing his eyes as everything went black. 

April 9th 2016

The blackness was stopped by the rumbling of a train. Morgana blinked his eyes open, looking down at the floor as he realized that something was off. A pair of legs greeted him - dressed in red and black plaid trousers & black loafers. 

He blinked again, now staring at the legs as he felt fingers anxiously tap against them. He looked down once more, seeing that the anxiously tapping fingers belonged to  _ him _ , as the tapping stopped once he pulled away. 

He was in a train surrounded by people, so he just swallowed awkwardly, pushing the hand up his thigh and seeing the white linen sleeve of a familiar looking turtleneck. Down went his stomach. This was the Shujin uniform? 

One) Why was he human? Two) Why was he wearing the Shujin uniform? And three) Why did everything feel so off?

He frowned, reaching over to his right side to immediately grab a Shujin Academy bag. He remembered that bag, he lived in Akira’s bag for the entire year he was a part of the Phantom Thieves - and later living in Haru’s during the time he ran off - but this one definitely felt different. 

A blazer was shoved into the bottom of the bag, a stick of gum and a pair of books holding it to its place. As he reached in the bag, he pulled out a phone. God, he had a  _ phone _ ? The phone was black with a bright yellow case, as he saw the black mirror and froze, now seeing the vague outline of a young man’s face stare back at him. 

The young man was so eerily similar to Akira in terms of appearance, that for a brief moment, Morgana believed he swapped bodies with him. The fluffy outline of his hair framed his face, sharp eyes and the pointed edges of his chin alerted him to the fact that something was clearly off. He narrowed his eyes. 

“Wh-What?” He whispered, keeping his voice down, trying to appear as if he was looking at a news story or a text message. 

Well, trying to keep his voice down would be hard, considering his  _ voice  _ sounded different - a much lower sounding voice, but still youthful. He grit his teeth, somewhat in confusion but also in a strange feeling of elation -- this was exactly what he wanted, but why now?

And what was he doing on a train?

That’s when he heard the sentence that caused his stomach to nearly burst out of his throat; 

“What, a mental shutdown? Are you for real?”

But Akechi, the culprit of the mental shutdowns, was dead. Long dead, in fact. He’d been dead since November. Unless of course… Morgana unlocked his phone, and saw the offending date. It wasn’t December 25th. It was  _ April 9th _ . He groaned. 

What the hell had he just gotten into? 

xxx

Apparently, from scanning the various texts and messages on the phone he’d magically received - Morgana was currently in the body of Masaru Aozora, and he was pretty much himself with Akira’s entire backstory - criminal record and all. 

Unlike Akira, it was clear that Masaru had friends who missed him, and family who adored him in spite of the record. Great, so not only was he in the past, he was in the past in the body of someone who actually  _ had  _ people to fall back on. 

The good news was he was still living at LeBlanc with Sojiro as his guardian. The better news was that the Metanav was on his phone, so he could go to the Metaverse and figure out what was going on. 

That is… If the Metaverse was still the same. He groaned, looking around Shibuya crossing. He’d walked this way several times, but now he was  _ at least _ taller than he was in both his humanoid form in the Metaverse, and his cat form. So that meant that it was strange, having to move around on two legs in reality and two much  _ longer  _ legs. 

He’d tried not to admire himself one too many times, but even an idiot would have noticed that Masaru obviously had a workout routine before arriving in Tokyo. He wasn’t some scrawny, frizzy haired kid like Akira was, he had some definition to him. Yep, Masaru Aozora was Morgana’s ideal human form, he assumed. Definitely looked like the kind of guy who would physically assault someone. 

He swallowed, remembering that Akira’s criminal record was leaked. Great, that’s going to make things even harder.

As he made his way to Yongen Jaya, he spotted a couple strange individuals that he almost recognised but wasn’t sure -- a young man in an oversized purple hoodie tagging a wall, a young woman with cropped brown hair leading another girl with a black side ponytail into a clothing store, another young man, this time with brown hair wearing a rather expensive looking suit, glaring down at his watch impatiently… 

All Phantoms of another time, he assumed. But as he entered the Yongen Jaya train service, he wondered why this had happened. Was this because he wished for the recognition Akira got? Akira would never get recognition, he was just one of the mysterious Phantom Thieves. Or was this a reward? 

He scoffed. He didn’t deserve a reward. Akira did most of the work, he just guided the boy along as well as he could as an amnesiac, ‘not a cat’ who the other found in a dungeon. Anyone else would’ve walked away but Akira saved him, and even took him in. Akira allowed his help, and here he was - taking a joyride in a body all too familiar to Akira’s but all too different. 

He sighed, choosing to lean back the second he got on the train - it was a one stop, and he would eventually find himself in Leblanc with Sojiro Sakura who looked at him like a stranger and acted like he was only a nuisance. Better to savor the moment for a hot second before he arrived at the first day of his new life. 

Now, where was he supposed to begin? 

**Author's Note:**

> just so yall know, this morgana is not inspired by the dr maruki's reality morgana from p5r! he also has a different voice as well, but i cant exactly think of a v/a so whoever comes to mind when you think 'mischievous teenage voice' go right ahead (yes i know you all immediately thought of ryuji) 
> 
> this story is non-canon to runaway, but it does involve some aspects of that canon. for example, when yusuke is introed i will be referring to them by they/them pronouns. sorry if that offends anyone :')


End file.
